Cpt Eugene Cernan pictured in front of the huge Saturn rocket which blasted him off to the moon.

He says: “Let me put it another way. Always shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you’ll land somewhere among the stars. That means go out and try. Don’t be afraid to try. So you can find out how good you are.”

Last Man On The Moon, a Mark Stewart Productions film, recounts the space race through Gene’s own story, recalling JFK’s presidential mandate to boldly go where no man had gone before.

Twelve men made the journey. Neil Armstrong was the first in 1969. Gene took that last step on December 14, 1972. He’s amazed nobody has been back since, but he’s confident that will happen soon – then on to Mars.

Last Man On The Moon Cpt Eugene Cernan

“I won’t be the last man on the moon, I will then be the last man of Apollo. They will have to re-label me,” he laughs.

He still has a pilot’s licence, but you’re as likely to find him wearing a stetson, riding a horse. He doesn’t spend all his time looking back, but when he looks up at the moon he can transport himself back to the lunar surface.

“I think the best description I have is that I sat on God’s front porch for three days of my life.

“You have to pinch yourself. When you step on the moon it’s the first time you’ve stepped on anything hard that isn’t Earth.

Cpt Eugene Cernan on "God's porch" - standing on the moon looking up at the Earth in the sky.

A former US Navy fighter pilot, handpicked by Nasa in 1966 despite not applying for the space programme, nor having gone to test pilot school, he said fate and a tunnel vision to achieve put him on the moon.

But he admits there were sacrifices, including his first marriage and spending time away from his daughter, Tracy – whose initials, TDC, he scratched with love in the lunar dust, to remain there undisturbed for all time, like his boot prints.

Last Man On The Moon will be shown again at Sheffield Showroom cinema, as part of a DocFest Best Of The Fest series of screenings, tomorrow, Thursday, June 12, at 8.15pm. Other best of screenings tomorrow: We Are Many, 2pm, The Battle For Orgreave, 8pm.